Google completes controversial takeover of DeepMind Health – TechCrunch

Google has completed a controversial take-over of the health division of its UK AI acquisition, DeepMind. The personnel move had been delayed as National Health Service (NHS) trusts considered whether to shift their existing DeepMind contracts -- some for a clinical task management app, others involving predictive health AI research -- to Google. In a blog post yesterday Dr Dominic King, formerly of DeepMind (and the NHS), now UK site lead at Google Health, confirmed the transfer, writing: "It's clear that a transition like this takes time. Health data is sensitive, and we gave proper time and care to make sure that we had the full consent and cooperation of our partners. This included giving them the time to ask questions and fully understand our plans and to choose whether to continue our partnerships. As has always been the case, our partners are in full control of all patient data and we will only use patient data to help improve care, under their oversight and instructions."